Move it, move it, move it toward £35,000

Brentwood, Essex — “Move!” You’ve heard it since childhood. From burning off steam to getting out of the way, from physical therapy to keeping joints moving, movement impacts all stages of life.

The University of Sheffield took this to heart with their Motion project. The social enterprise designs and delivers chair-based exercise sessions for the elderly with the goal to increase physical mobility, reduce social isolation and improve the lives of participants while also providing employment for locally vulnerable people.

Motion was one of three finalists in this year’s Ford UK Innovation Challenge, part of the Ford College Community Challenge. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Ford C3 globally and the third anniversary of its operation in Europe, where it partners with registered charity Enactus.

The three shortlisted teams presented their proposals Monday to a judging panel in the Ford UK Warley Headquarters, today, Jim Vella, President, Ford Motor Company Fund, presented the Sheffield university students with the winning £25,000 to continue improving lives.

“All the teams would have been worthy winners but the Motion project really stood out as a transformational idea that impacts lives and contributes towards physical, social and economic mobility,” Vella said.
As part of the C-3 program supporting young people, the programs encourage social entrepreneurship through the implementation of sustainable community solutions. Additionally, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Nottingham teams each received £5,000.

Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain Chairman and Managing Director, said, “We are delighted to be able to support these exceptional young innovators as they provide creative and sustainable solutions to real-world community issues. Enactus gives these students a fantastic platform to demonstrate their abilities and our Ford Fund award will support the project implementation.”